The United States Army is the largest branch of the armed forces of the United States. Like all armies, it has the primary responsibility for land-based military operations. The modern Army had its roots in the Continental Army which was formed on June 14, 1775, before the establishment of the United States, to meet the demands of the American Revolutionary War. Congress created the United States Army on June 3, 1784 after the end of the war to replace the disbanded Continental Army. The Army considers itself to be descended from the Continental Army, and thus dates its inception from the origins of that force.*********************Control and operation of the Army is administered by the Department of the Army, one of the three service departments of the Department of Defence. The civilian head is the Secretary of the Army and the highest ranking military officer in the department is the Chief of Staff. As of March 31, 2007, the Regular Army reported a strength of 507,082 soldiers.By the end of 2005, the Army National Guard (ARNG) reported 333,177 and the United States Army Reserve (USAR) reported 189,005,putting the approximate combined component strength total at 1,029,264.*******************The U.S. Military M274 Truck, Platform, Utility 1/2 Tonne, 4X4 or "Carrier, Light Weapons, Infantry, 1/2 tonne, 4x4" aka "Mule," "Military Mule," or "Mechanical Mule" is a 4-wheel drive, gas powered truck/tractor type vehicle that can carry up to 1/2 tonne off-road. It was introduced in 1956 and used until the 1980s. It is today a popular military vehicle collectors' items and is incredibly durable and useful.*************The M274 Mule was introduced in 1956 to replace both the 1/4 tonne trucks ("Jeeps") and 3/4 tonne trucks (Weapons Carrier Series and M37 series) in airborne and infantry battalions. They were used throughout the Vietnamese Conflict and other U.S. military operations until the 1980s as platforms for various weapons and for carrying men, supplies, and weaponry/ammunition. They offered absolutely no protection to the driver yet that was relatively unimportant as they were mainly used as cargo carriers and medium-range infantry support vehicles rather than close-combat anti-infantry vehicles. They were phased out from military usage in the 1980s with the introduction of the HMMWV series vehicles. The HMMWV was however unable to fulfil the role of the Mule and the 3/4 tonne trucks they replaced so the M-Gator, a military variant of the popular John Deere Gator vehicle, was introduced.